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Author Notes: This Burgundian dish, adapted from Anne Willan, combines whole garlic cloves simmered with tomatoes and mellowed with Cognac. I've taught it many times in a class featuring Chicken Dishes from France.

We use thighs at our house, because we prefer the dark meat, but you can use breasts if you'd rather. Please leave the meat on the bone, though. There's so much more flavor that way. - ChefJune —ChefJune

Food52 Review: The thrill of flambé is not to be missed! Chef June's recipe calls for flambéing the chicken and the 20 cloves of garlic, which gives the tomato sauce a spiced richness and depth, but without heat. The sauce is so remarkable -- I had to restrain myself from eating it as soup. I made this recipe twice: the first time brining the chicken, the second not. The brined chicken was superior in taste and tenderness. My guests loved this dish, and it is worth repeating many, many times. I can also see that, as I get more practiced, it will be fun to flambe in front of guests. Cheers to Chef June! - SKK —SKK

Serves 6

6 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

2tablespoons unsalted butter

20 unpeeled large garlic cloves

1/2cup Cognac

1 14-ounce can imported Italian plum tomatoes

1tablespoon tomato paste

1 bouquet garni/1 bay leaf, 4 fresh thyme sprigs & 4 parsley sprigs

1cup chicken stock

1tablespoon very finely chopped fresh parsley

fresh thyme sprigs for garnish

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in heavy large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken pieces in batches and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet. Add garlic to skillet and stir 2 minutes.

Transfer chicken to platter. Tent with foil to keep warm. Add stock to skillet and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Strain through a sieve, pressing on the garlic with the back of a spoon to extract all the purée. Stir sauce over low heat until reduced to 1 1/2 cups.

I am totally enthralled with this recipe! I doubled it, cooked it and took it to a large family gathering where I simply reheated it. What a hit! The next day I boned the left-over meat, added it to the left-over sauce with rice and we had chicken - tomato soup poured over rice. And I did cheat because I made extra sauce. Chef June, what else can we do with that wonderful sauce?

Been traveling and just saw this. I used free-range chicken thighs. The purpose of the brining was tenderness. I used about 1/3 cup of kosher salt, brined for about 3 or 4 hours in the fridge and rinsed, rinsed and dried the chicken before I cooked it. I love this recipe!

definitely works with breasts, or with a whole chicken, cut up. It's a festive company dish, but easy enough for Tuesday. Just the kind of recipe I like for company, because I get to enjoy my guests. ;)